This application claims priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2001-41339, filed on Jul. 10, 2001.
(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle hood hinge, and more particularly to a hinge of a vehicle hood for withdrawing a hood of a vehicle backwardly for preventing a pedestrian from being injured by a collision with the hood when the body of the pedestrian contacts the hood due to a head-on collision with the vehicle which is running or moving.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Recently, attempts to minimize the shock due to the collision of a vehicle with a pedestrian include deforming the vehicle body, such as the hood in accordance with pedestrian safety regulations, which are expected to be enacted and enforced in several different countries.
The pedestrian safety regulations are based on impact values taken from firing a head form (which simulates the head of a pedestrian) at a speed of 40 kph (kilometers per hour), wherein it is assumed that a pedestrian collides with an end part of a glass at a rear part of a hood, that is, the head of the pedestrian collides with the vehicle in the vicinity of a hinge part.
In general, a front part of a vehicle is formed with an engine room 2 for receiving an engine and other various parts, and a hood 1 is mounted to an upper end part of the engine room rotatably with respect to a hinge 100 for protecting the engine room, as shown in FIG. 1.
The prior art hinge for a hood of a vehicle, as shown in FIG. 2, includes: a hinge support 20 having a rear part formed with a link piece integrally and upwardly extended at the rear part and formed with a hinge hole 23, and a front part penetrated with coupling holes 21; a hinge arm 10 having an insertion hole 12 formed at a rear part with an inner diameter equal to the inner diameter of the hinge hole of the hinge support 20 and coupling holes 11 penetrated in a front part; and a hinge pin 30 for penetrating both of the insertion hole 12 of the hinge arm and the hinge hole 23 of the hinge support 20.
In the above prior art vehicle hood hinge, the insertion hole 12 of the hinge arm 10 is aligned with the hinge hole 23 of the link piece of the hinge support 20 to allow the hinge pin 30 to be inserted into the insertion hole and the hinge hole; and the hinge support 20 and the hinge arm 10 (coupled by the hinge pin 30) are coupled with a vehicle body by bolts 27 via the coupling holes 21 of the hinge support and the coupling holes 11 of the hinge arm, in such a manner that a top surface of the vehicle body is coupled with a bottom surface of a hood 1 and a bottom surface of the hinge support 20 is coupled with a top surface of the hinge arm 10, so that the hood 1 is opened or closed by rotation with respect to the hinge pin 30.
In the prior art vehicle hood hinge as above, the hinge arm 10 (which contacts the bottom surface of the hood 1 at the top surface and is coupled by the bolt 27) is fixed and coupled with the hinge support 20 (which contacts the top surface of the vehicle body and is coupled by the bolt 27) by the hinge pin 30.
Therefore, if the pedestrian collides head-on with the vehicle while the vehicle is running or moving and the body of the pedestrian contacts the hood 1, the pedestrian becomes injured seriously by the impact energy generated by the collision with the vehicle.
In the meantime, in order to resolve the above problems of the prior art, as shown in FIG. 3, it has been suggested to form a bead part 22axe2x80x2 in the link piece of the hinge support 20, which is formed with the hinge hole 23 with the same inner diameter as the inner diameter of the insertion hole 12 of the hinge arm 10 and is coupled to the hinge arm by the hinge pin 30.
According to the bead structure, when the pedestrian collides head-on with the driving or moving vehicle, the bead part 22axe2x80x2 formed in the link piece of the hinge support 20 becomes deformed, absorbing the impact energy, thereby reducing the injury of the pedestrian.
The prior art hood hinge has, however, a problem that it is impossible to control a breakage load by the only bead part 22axe2x80x2, which is formed in the link piece of the hinge support 20 to be deformed for absorbing the impact energy, so that the injury of the pedestrian may not be reduced effectively.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a vehicle hood hinge that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the prior art.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved vehicle hood hinge, which may absorb the impact energy by moving a lower end part of a first link along a slot to move a hood backwardly, so that a pedestrian may be prevented from being injured seriously by the hood, when the pedestrian collides head-on with a running or moving vehicle.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle hood hinge that may minimize an impact value applied to the head of a pedestrian for safely protecting the pedestrian during a head-on collision of the pedestrian with a driving or moving vehicle.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle hood hinge that may meet the pedestrian safety regulations, which are expected to be enforced in several different countries.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, a vehicle hood hinge includes: a hinge arm having a surface contacting a bottom surface of a hood 1 at a top surface and penetratingly formed with coupling holes to be coupled with the hood and a side surface penetrating formed with a first hinge hole and a second hinge hole respectively at a front part and a rear part; a first link and a second link, of which upper end parts are respectively coupled with the first hinge hole and the second hinge hole of the hinge arm by axial pins; a hinge support formed with a hinge hole at a side to be rotatably coupled with a lower end part of the second link by an axial pin and coupling holes at both sides of a lower end part to be coupled with a vehicle body by bolts in contact with a top surface of the vehicle body at a bottom surface; a slot formed longitudinally in the hinge support; and a plate spring fixedly mounted at an end of the slot and formed with a holding shoulder for preventing the hinge pin from deviating from a normal hinge operation position under normal circumstances, but allowing the hinge pin to deviate from the normal hinge operation position by moving along the slot when an external impact is applied.
Therefore, the hinge pin forms a hinge shaft at a normal position when the hood is normally opened or closed, while the hinge pin is deviated from the normal position for reducing impact force when the head of a pedestrian collides with a top surface of the hood.